As the call for the arrest of Islamic Cleric, Sheikh Ahmad Gumi, rises over his relationship with bandits, the cleric has revealed that his interactions with bandits were done in the presence of government officials.
Gumi who described those calling for his arrest as “clowns”, noted that he was not the first to have negotiated with bandits.
He mentioned the Zamfara and Kaduna State governors, as personalities who had interacted with bandits before his appearance .
“Even the Kaduna State governor dialogued with them, Zamfara governor dialogued with them.
“I’m not the first person that started dialoguing with them (bandits). I only added value, and I find them to be religious; religion is the only thing that teaches you that blood has sanctity. So this is the religious angle.
“I’m trying to gather them and teach them that there is sanctity to life. They cannot kill, rape and so on. This is the addition I hope will work. Note, I never visited these bandits without a government official, but they are in the background.
“All the bandits we met were with government officials, and that is why I said those calling for my arrest are clowns” Gumi said.
Speaking on the results so far from his negotiations with bandits, he said:
“My interaction with bandits has yielded instant results. When you are dealing with somebody engrossed in criminality, if you approach him as a policeman, you will have a problem but if you come to him as a pastor, he will confess all his sins to you.
“So we approach them as clergy, and they feel comfortable to vomit all their problems. Hence, we see how we can appease and help them.
“We are not approaching them as an authority but from the spiritual angle. You know every human being has that spiritual influence, and that is why we are adopting that” the cleric noted.
